Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag

We want to say to all the Indigenous youth, you are important❤️
“There’s strong - then there’s Indigenous Woman strong.”
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Last weekend Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag and supporting community members planted a Great Eastern White Pine to celebrate our Closing 2021 Summer at New College, University of Toronto.

We started the day with a sunrise ceremony and asked permission for the land to be disturbed and dug. Elder Whabagoon shared her teachings of the white pines in her Lac Seul First Nation territory, which in Ojibwe is Obishikokaang meaning "Narrows Abundant with White Pine."

The youth had such a great opportunity to share their songs, personal stories, and teachings. The planting of the Eastern White Pine was done with respect and love. We are all very excited to have a place to return to for many years and generations to come.

Bonnie McElhinny, Principal of New College, gifted the youth with a beautiful bundle including sage and mint wrapped in a tea towel that illustrated the mint plant, which we all love so much.

We closed the circle with the humble song and shared our thank yous.

Then, everyone feasted, which Pow Wow Cafe catered. Yum!

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We want to express our deepest gratitude to Bonnie McElhinny: Principal of New College, Ron Vander Kraats: CAO of New College, and Leah McCormack-Smith, Director, Residence and Student Life at New College for their generosity, hospitality and great effort to make the last weekend's event so meaningful and memorable.

We also want to thank: Stan Szwagiel, Manager, Grounds Services at the University of Toronto and Cohen & Master for doing a superb job planting the Easter White Pine and joining the circle and ceremony.

Thank you to all the family members, mentors and New College community members who joined us.

Thank you to the City of Toronto. This event was Funded by/in part by the City of Toronto through an Urban Forestry Grant.

Final thank you to , Tara Mabon from the City of Toronto, and Rob Wright for the beautiful photos.

📣We planted 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ native shrubs‼️

Can you name the 5 species?

Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag had the pleasure of collaborating with the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, planting 100 native shrubs at the Dalla Lana Public School with support from the City of Toronto Urban Forestry Community Planting and Stewardship Grant and UofT grounds.
We are proud to say that this planting answers UofT TRC’s call to action #1, calling for more Indigenous spaces.

The Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag team wears orange today to support and honour residential school survivors on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

In response to Call to Action #26 at UofT: The University should invest more in publicising existing college pathway programs, and in actively recruiting into those programs and into the existing, targeted Indigenous access and bridging programs.

We have taken this vital step every year, for the past 4 years, to provide Indigenous youth with the opportunity to see themselves in a post-secondary environment, with the support and guidance they need to succeed.

Let’s all take the time today to educate ourselves, friends, and family about Orange Shirt Day, and the steps that can be taken in learning about Truth and Reconciliation in so called Canada.

The Indian Residential School Survivors Society can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-721-0066

The Hope for Wellness Helpline is a 24-hour phone and online mental health counselling service for Indigenous people, with support available in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut upon request, call 1-855-242-3310.

We want to send a big Miigwetch to the community, , and Community Planting and Stewardship program for contributing to the success of the Tree Planting event on September 26th, and to nursery for supplying the trees for another year in a row.

The Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag youth gave fantastic tree planting demonstrations and spoke about planting certain plants on the upper slope and some downslope. They explained the medicinal properties and other traditional uses. Elder Whabagoon had the honour of planting the 100th tree of the day.

Miigwetch to the 70 community members who came out yesterday, the day would not have been complete without you.
🌲🌳 🌲🌳 🌲🌳

Boozhoo! She:kon! Tansi!
Hello friends 😊

Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag is excited to announce that we have a Tree Planting event coming up on Saturday, September 25th in collaboration with Downsview Park. We will demonstrate how to plant trees that are native to the area, followed by a lunch and fire with Elder Whabagoon. We would love for you to join us! Not only is this a great way to earn volunteer hours and to get engaged with the Indigenous community, but it’s also contributing to positive climate ACTION!

Register today! - https://form.jotform.com/212433383267253

Here’s what the day will look like:
📍11:00-11:15 - Arrival at planting location
👷‍♀️11:15-11:20 - Planting demo
🌲 11:20-12:20 - Planting time
🔥 12:30-2:00 - Lunch & fire with Elder Whabagoon

• Only 24 spots available!
• No experience is required.
• All tools and materials provided
• Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• Pets are not permitted at this program. Service animals are always welcome.
• Earn volunteer hours.

Register today! - https://form.jotform.com/212433383267253

or email [email protected] if you have any questions or want more information.

Miigwetch! Nia:wen kowa! Hai Hai.

𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 - 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐔𝐊𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐇
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Mino-bimaadiziwin ‘The good life’
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Miigwetch to James Vuklich for sharing the 7 Ojibwe Grandfather Teachings with the Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag youth. Since the beginning, Elder Whabagoon has always told us to live Mino-bimaadiziwin. The Youth enjoyed learning more about the Ojibwe language and the teachings that come along with that.
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Tree Planting with Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag Indigenous youth access program.
Make a positive impact on Downsview Park. On Sunday, September 26th we will be welcoming the community, in collaboration with Downsview Park to help plant trees! Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag means ‘Flooded Valley Healing’ in Anishinaabemowin, a Manitoulin dialect, and is an initiative that provides Indigenous youth with hands-on ecological learning opportunities to address a growing intergenerational gap on traditional environmental knowledge.

We will be hosting two planting times:

10:00 AM-11:15 AM (arrival 9:45-10:00)
11:15 AM-12:30 PM. (arrival 11:00-11:15)
Please choose the second time-slot if you would like to participate in the fire teachings with Elder Whabagoon, and learn more about our program and how you could join next year!!
Please arrive on time in order to view the planting demonstration
Information about program's meeting spot will be provided to registrants.

No experience is required. All tools and materials will be provided.
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Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Pets are not permitted at this program. Service animals are always welcome.

𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘: 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗪 𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬

"Design through an Indigenous Lens: Decolonizing our Approach to Architecture”
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Matthew Hickey has been a very active mentor at Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag for many years. He joined us on our trip to Toronto Islands and presented to us on Zoom this year. We talked about the positive impact that designing through an Indigenous lens can have on our community. We talked about the design process, multi-generational households, “Universal Inclusivity,” Urban agriculture, multi-service provider neighbourhoods. The NDG youth have learned that design and architecture all start from an idea; you grow with it and learn from it. “How can my idea turn into a form of Indigenous placekeeping that is positively impactful by incorporating the teachings and the skills I’ve learned.”
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Thursday Closing Ceremony